Ilovesteptoe wrote:I agree. They broke the mould with both Cushing & Lee. Won't see the like of them again sadly, but I advise you to watch Chump at Oxford a.s.a.p. It's hilarious. So funny . Odd seeing Peter Cushing without a stake or bat in sight, and he's so young too...

Was in a charity shop recently looking for “A Chump At Oxford”, but found “Sons of the Desert” and “Swiss Miss” instead. More than their feature length pictures I still enjoy Laurel and Hardy’s short subjects best, they certainly didn’t skimp on performance or production values and Vaudevillian slapstick tends to better condensed. My favorite might be Busy Bodies (1933)* where they’re working in saw mill; the stunts aren’t just hilarious, they’re frightening real!! Hardy keeps getting clobbered with any number of incredibly dangerous objects, including a huge circular blade on the head and a gargantuan iron sink in the face, he then falls from a great height crushing a shed . *And here it is, Laurel and Hardy's 1933 classic short subject, "Busy Bodies" :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZujoJaR2ERY.

Ilovesteptoe wrote:I agree. They broke the mould with both Cushing & Lee. Won't see the like of them again sadly, but I advise you to watch Chump at Oxford a.s.a.p. It's hilarious. So funny . Odd seeing Peter Cushing without a stake or bat in sight, and he's so young too...

Was in a charity shop recently looking for “A Chump At Oxford”, but found “Sons of the Desert” and “Swiss Miss” instead. More than their feature length pictures I still enjoy Laurel and Hardy’s short subjects best, they certainly didn’t skimp on performance or production values and Vaudevillian slapstick tends to better condensed. My favorite might be Busy Bodies (1933)* where they’re working in saw mill; the stunts aren’t just hilarious, they’re frightening real!! Hardy keeps getting clobbered with any number of incredibly dangerous objects, including a huge circular blade on the head and a gargantuan iron sink in the face, he then falls from a great height crushing a shed . *And here it is, Laurel and Hardy's 1933 classic short subject, "Busy Bodies" :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZujoJaR2ERY.

Besides the obvious classic British comedy and horror flick, as said many times love Laurel & Hardy with a passion. Got a lot of shorts/movies on DVD released back in the mid 2000s where they were colourised & restored. You mentioned a particular classic that featured a Sawmill. Just checked your link below and that's one of my favourites. There's been a few episodes/shorts that featured them attempting to build & saw wood but that one tops them all. Many "so-called" comediennes of today can only watch in awe at their unmatched physical comedy, and even after 90yrs+ since their first outing still make us all belly laugh. Quality lasts the test of time.

An underwear fetishist . Never mind mate, takes all kinds to make a world .Like Captain Sensible of The Damned I can’t abide the things, too uncomfortable. But unlike him I do tend to keep my trousers on, to the great relief of neighbours I’m sure! Got to see them live a few times, outstanding shows as you’d imagine, and watched the 2015 Damned documentary last night. Not a bad film, Ray (the Captain) wandering around Croydon reminiscing, swearing and smiling broadly as one does, they’re favorite bits . Returning to some of your earlier comments, I’m very sorry to read of your Father’s passing. Not having more than one photograph of a happy childhood in that Victorian morticians house must be deeply frustrating. On a similar note, I’ve lately been trying to recover some of the better bits of my youth which, you guessed it, are the Punk bits. Fond memories of an innocent, astonishingly creative and incredibly important time. But when you’re young and poor and had no proper cameras that were expensive, cumbersome 35mm and could very easily be dropped and broken in the pit, few people could afford to take that chance and in most cases it didn’t occur to anyone, too much fun was being had! Luckily many folks did document and preserve those happy days on audio, celluloid and video, without which much of it might remain an ale soaked fog. And while those documents do still exist, finding them uncensored is a challenge in what has needlessly become a very strictly corporatized consumer environment. And if you haven’t seen it, another Cushing / Lee collaboration you’re likely to enjoy, the 1971 public domain Spanish classic...“Horror Express” (aka “Pánico en el Transiberiano”). Great fun that movie .

An underwear fetishist . Never mind mate, takes all kinds to make a world .Like Captain Sensible of The Damned I can’t abide the things, too uncomfortable. But unlike him I do tend to keep my trousers on, to the great relief of neighbours I’m sure! Got to see them live a few times, outstanding shows as you’d imagine, and watched the 2015 Damned documentary last night. Not a bad film, Ray (the Captain) wandering around Croydon reminiscing, swearing and smiling broadly as one does, they’re favorite bits . Returning to some of your earlier comments, I’m very sorry to read of your Father’s passing. Not having more than one photograph of a happy childhood in that Victorian morticians house must be deeply frustrating. On a similar note, I’ve lately been trying to recover some of the better bits of my youth which, you guessed it, are the Punk bits. Fond memories of an innocent, astonishingly creative and incredibly important time. But when you’re young and poor and had no proper cameras that were expensive, cumbersome 35mm and could very easily be dropped and broken in the pit, few people could afford to take that chance and in most cases it didn’t occur to anyone, too much fun was being had! Luckily many folks did document and preserve those happy days on audio, celluloid and video, without which much of it might remain an ale soaked fog. And while those documents do still exist, finding them uncensored is a challenge in what has needlessly become a very strictly corporatized consumer environment. And if you haven’t seen it, another Cushing / Lee collaboration you’re likely to enjoy, the 1971 public domain Spanish classic...“Horror Express” (aka “Pánico en el Transiberiano”). Great fun that movie .

"Underwear fetish." oo-er... there's a thong and dance in that me thinks lol.

You mentioned old Captain Sensible. Man I can remember him in the early eighties post the Dammed during in his solo career. He appeared a lot of times on kids TV, even on the cult Young Ones with Rick Mayall & co when the Dammed performed once. I can recall him doing a bit of singing, then all hell broke out with him doing crazy his wacky antics dressed in his trademark dark shades and red beret. He looked like a Wolfie Smith from 70s classic Citizen Smith, but on crack lol.

Being serious for moment. Thanks for your condolences. Yeah that time was really difficult, unfair in a way, still is, as my Dad worked all his life, scrimped & saved for his pension so money would be there to benefit his family but never got the chance to see his retirement and to fulfil his hard-earned ambitions of travelling in his camper-van with the family, doing a spot of fishing in-between taking photographs being one of his passions and hobbies. Still makes me angry as I think about it. Just got to think of the good times which keeps me sane.

Ilovesteptoe wrote:"Underwear fetish." oo-er... there's a thong and dance in that me thinks lol. ...Captain Sensible...He appeared a lot of times on kids TV...looked like a Wolfie Smith...

You're right there!Some punk shows, like so many other kids I was so skint my jeans were literally in pieces, beyond redemption, no way to sew ‘em up and didn’t have anything else. No alternative but to wear black tights beneath them so I didn’t get nicked for indecent exposure. One show, between bands I’m sitting on the edge of the stage and some bloke wanders up and says, “.....I like your nylons” . I then resolved to spend a few extra quid on new trousers . Funny thing, was a bit dismaying to discover tights are quite comfortable really, keep ye warm too. But when you’re a yeti-hairy geezer like me, all that matted hair beneath tights is not a pleasant sight which knocked the whole punk-drag thing on the head pretty quick. Sorry about the nasty visual . “Wolfie Smith” . Captain Sensible on kids telly makes perfect sense! To the kids he must’ve seemed like an hilarious, mad uncle; I had one and everybody loved him no matter how 'burlesque' his jokes were, bless .If you’re a Damned fan, punk fan or just enjoy music the documentary is a must see, despite some annoying, self indulgent directorial/post production decisions* that had nothing to do with the band. “Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead” (2015) is available as an all regions dvd/blu-ray combo, highly recommended . *Including boosting the volume easily 300% above dialog levels for one song presumably because the director likes that song. Also, names and credits so tiny that nobody could possibly read them. That’s especially annoying for anyone that wants to know who’s speaking, wants to read the crawl (many people do) and doesn’t own a cinema sized home telly screen (most people don’t). And no subtitles for the mutt and jeff is just plain mean.

Ilovesteptoe wrote:"Underwear fetish." oo-er... there's a thong and dance in that me thinks lol. ...Captain Sensible...He appeared a lot of times on kids TV...looked like a Wolfie Smith...

You're right there!Some punk shows, like so many other kids I was so skint my jeans were literally in pieces, beyond redemption, no way to sew ‘em up and didn’t have anything else. No alternative but to wear black tights beneath them so I didn’t get nicked for indecent exposure. One show, between bands I’m sitting on the edge of the stage and some bloke wanders up and says, “.....I like your nylons” . I then resolved to spend a few extra quid on new trousers . Funny thing, was a bit dismaying to discover tights are quite comfortable really, keep ye warm too. But when you’re a yeti-hairy geezer like me, all that matted hair beneath tights is not a pleasant sight which knocked the whole punk-drag thing on the head pretty quick. Sorry about the nasty visual . “Wolfie Smith” . Captain Sensible on kids telly makes perfect sense! To the kids he must’ve seemed like an hilarious, mad uncle; I had one and everybody loved him no matter how 'burlesque' his jokes were, bless .If you’re a Damned fan, punk fan or just enjoy music the documentary is a must see, despite some annoying, self indulgent directorial/post production decisions* that had nothing to do with the band. “Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead” (2015) is available as an all regions dvd/blu-ray combo, highly recommended . *Including boosting the volume easily 300% above dialog levels for one song presumably because the director likes that song. Also, names and credits so tiny that nobody could possibly read them. That’s especially annoying for anyone that wants to know who’s speaking, wants to read the crawl (many people do) and doesn’t own a cinema sized home telly screen (most people don’t). And no subtitles for the mutt and jeff is just plain mean.

Yeah, fashions come and go. As you know in the seventies all had long hair who had hair that is, clothes were questionable, as was the colour schemes of homes. It was either burnt orange, olive or lime green flock-wallpaper. Then punk happened. Homes decors stayed the same, but It was bye bye to shaggy hairstyles & sideburns, flares & kipper ties, and hello the "bald as a coot look" which also included "the electrocuted whilst in a paint factory" hairstyle. The badge of a punk also included a safety-pin through the nose, a penchant for swearing & nose picking, then dangling a bathroom plug, razor-blade or indeed a toilet chain necklace around their necks, which usually followed by a fight in the high street after some fish n chips, teeth being knocked out, the police being called, a foot up the arse, bundled into a meat-wagon, then a pending charge then conviction for gobbing over a policeman helmet during the a scuffle, ending with a night in the cells, pending court date and subsequent fine, and that was just the women lol.

You noticed too, besides anarchic kids series mentioned which punk influenced had many mainstream pop artists of the eighties who were once former punks. For example. Anne Lennox ( of the Eurythmics) , Siouxsie Sioux ( of Siouxsie and Banshees) , Marc Almond ( of Soft Cell), Madness, Billy Idol, Joe Strummer & Mick Jones ( of the Clash), Chrissie Hynde, all toned down their initial guises, some not so, to make it big post-punk. It's called following the ££ or $$.

Re DVD: Yes I am a Dammed fan, and no I'm not being sarcastic or have a short fuse when questioned about being so lol, and thanks too for the Music dvd suggestion. I shall check that one out when able to.

Ilovesteptoe wrote:Yeah, fashions come and go. As you know in the seventies all had long hair who had hair that is, clothes were questionable, as was the colour schemes of homes. It was either burnt orange, olive or lime green flock-wallpaper. Then punk happened. Homes decors stayed the same, but It was bye bye to shaggy hairstyles & sideburns, flares & kipper ties, and hello the "bald as a coot look" which also included "the electrocuted whilst in a paint factory" hairstyle. The badge of a punk also included a safety-pin through the nose, a penchant for swearing & nose picking, then dangling a bathroom plug, razor-blade or indeed a toilet chain necklace around their necks, which usually followed by a fight in the high street after some fish n chips, teeth being knocked out, the police being called, a foot up the arse, bundled into a meat-wagon, then a pending charge then conviction for gobbing over a policeman helmet during the a scuffle, ending with a night in the cells, pending court date and subsequent fine, and that was just the women lol. .....Re DVD: Yes I am a Dammed fan, and no I'm not being sarcastic or have a short fuse when questioned about being so lol, and thanks too for the Music dvd suggestion. I shall check that one out when able to.

You’re sure to enjoy the Damned documentary then, love that band . Your Captain Sensible/Wolfie Smith fashion parallel is spot on. That or Pablo Picasso, he wore a beret and striped shirts too. And Ray’s full blown fuzzy gear brings to mind Ed Wood, director of “Plan 9 From Outer Space”, he famously had an angora pullover fetish . In contrast to the UK experience you described, of the hundreds of punk shows I attended from the mid-late 1970’s to mid 90’s, that’s 20 years, I never saw anybody spitting. Neither did young kids, most of whom were rational and intelligent, deliberately go looking for a scrap with (let alone gob on) uniformed, gun carrying, truncheon wielding police officers, it just didn’t happen that way here. As in all things, any real hostility that occurred, was due to a minority of people predisposed, or trained, to behave that way. In fact, most of the violence was directed at punks and wasn’t something we did to each other. I expect you’re already aware of all this, but not everybody is. You folks had those same mad, strobing home colour schemes in the 70’s too? Here’s a completely bizarre pop-decor phenomena you’ll be glad you missed, in the 1960’s it wasn’t unusual for people to have reproductions of the paintings of Margaret Keane in their homes, paintings of children with impossibly huge, insect bug eyes.When you’re only young and the walls are grotesquely mismatched colours that don’t exist in nature, and framed pictures of malnourished children that look like acutely depressed extraterrestrials are hanging there......Most kids couldn’t help but ask themselves if culture hadn't gone off the rails .On the same tack, James Lileks’ riotously funny website, Institute of Official Cheer, examines all sorts of cultural detritus including 1970's “Interior Desecrations”: http://www.lileks.com/institute/interiors/index.html. Hilarious!!

It's coincidental that when I left that reply that very evening watched an episode of Top of The Pops from 1982 on TV, and guess what? It featured one Captain Sensible singling that surprise no1 hit Happy Talk. Besides it being a novelty song, on seeing the cheering audience hopping up and down like kangaroos all dressed in new- romantic gear with permed hair was an experience, indeed made my hair stand on end too with embarrassment. What were they thinking of lol. So funny.

Ilovesteptoe wrote:It's coincidental that when I left that reply that very evening watched an episode of Top of The Pops from 1982 on TV, and guess what? It featured one Captain Sensible singling that surprise no1 hit Happy Talk. Besides it being a novelty song, on seeing the cheering audience hopping up and down like kangaroos all dressed in new-romantic gear with permed hair was an experience, indeed made my hair stand on end too with embarrassment. What were they thinking of lol. So funny. (P/S) Thanks for the link too.

In that documentary, Ray mentions the people that never heard of The Damned and only knew his hit single Happy Talk, then they’d accidentally find themselves at a Damned gig, walk out and demand their money back, “I came to see Captain Sensible and all I got was rancid noise and 4 letter abuse from the stage!” . Now there’s a hilarious image, ‘new-romantics’ with permed hair making a fuss at the box office, the thick acrid pong of deodorant and hairspray in their wake...My frilly Lord Byron shirt was damaged!. Coincidentally, recently found on dvd a 1982 Damned performance at the world famous Whisky-a-Go-Go, it’s excellent .

Ilovesteptoe wrote:It's coincidental that when I left that reply that very evening watched an episode of Top of The Pops from 1982 on TV, and guess what? It featured one Captain Sensible singling that surprise no1 hit Happy Talk. Besides it being a novelty song, on seeing the cheering audience hopping up and down like kangaroos all dressed in new-romantic gear with permed hair was an experience, indeed made my hair stand on end too with embarrassment. What were they thinking of lol. So funny. (P/S) Thanks for the link too.

In that documentary, Ray mentions the people that never heard of The Damned and only knew his hit single Happy Talk, then they’d accidentally find themselves at a Damned gig, walk out and demand their money back, “I came to see Captain Sensible and all I got was rancid noise and 4 letter abuse from the stage!” . Now there’s a hilarious image, ‘new-romantics’ with permed hair making a fuss at the box office, the thick acrid pong of deodorant and hairspray in their wake...My frilly Lord Byron shirt was damaged!. Coincidentally, recently found on dvd a 1982 Damned performance at the world famous Whisky-a-Go-Go, it’s excellent .

Ahhhh...those were the days. Besides great music, and not so good fashions, can remember in the early eighties when leg-warmers were in fashion thanks to the series Fame. My mam couldn't afford proper ones, so she cut the arms of my dad's old fishing jumper. I was the only kid in school with a captain Birdseye hand-me-down, and I couldn't walk properly too as they weighed a ton being 100% Merino. I was stigmatised by all because I looked like a Johnson cotton-bud, but more classier being wool.

Ilovesteptoe wrote:Ahhhh...those were the days. Besides great music, and not so good fashions, can remember in the early eighties when leg-warmers were in fashion thanks to the series Fame. My mam couldn't afford proper ones, so she cut the arms of my dad's old fishing jumper. I was the only kid in school with a captain Birdseye hand-me-down, and I couldn't walk properly too as they weighed a ton being 100% Merino. I was stigmatised by all because I looked like a Johnson cotton-bud, but more classier being wool.

Correct me if I’m wrong ILS, fashion was never my strong suit .But walking with thick merino wool over your legs must’ve created a huge static charge . Can empathize with being stigmatized because I wore Captain Birdseye hand-me-downs too! Ah, such memories...Touch a metal doorknob and whollop!! Both eyes would fly open long before the door ever did. Couldn’t go near miscellaneous objects like string or balloons or paper, they’d actually cling to your atmosphere and follow you everywhere, might've been funny at first but quickly became "Get off me!". No need for an electric torch in the dark when a mere stroll created sparks so bright they’d illuminate your path! And all the while every hair from head to foot stood on end. That of course before age intervened and I became skinhead by default, hey ho. Happy days .

Never knew you were into Medieval re-enactment DOY? No doubt you had to run the fashion gauntlet wearing a suit of armour. No wonder it was strong too, it has to be. Bet you were riveted to the spot with fear.

Re my Merino leg-warmer faux pas. Yeah, I said the very same thing when my dad brought them to me. Oh faux pa, I said. He wasn't too amused at my cussing too, so washed my mouth out with some smiths crisps. Why did he do that, you ask? See they had a little blue salt sachet, and it was two days before pay-day as money was tight, so used his initiative, and even that was on tick.

Ilovesteptoe wrote:Never knew you were into Medieval re-enactment DOY? No doubt you had to run the fashion gauntlet wearing a suit of armour. No wonder it was strong too, it has to be. Bet you were riveted to the spot with fear.

The deafening racket of clanging, incredibly uncomfortable suits of armour over heavy chain mail? Luxury! (uh oh, I sense an Albert Steptoe moment on the horizon ) ...We weren’t so posh. For us it was hairshirts or nothing, and no cowl either. Cartoon characters like The Flintstones drove a car, but the only wheel we knew was the Catherine wheel. Flagellants up at dawn for the morning beating, followed by enforced religious instruction, and in the evening, the traditional witch burning. A bit like boarding school really. The really frightening bit is that that sort of fanaticism is still rife here and my attempt at humour is not an exaggeration. Despite my age, to this day I still get complete strangers who refuse to enter or even acknowledge the 21st century, that react with hostility because I’m wearing a totally innocent punk band t-shirt they don’t understand .And speaking of great punk music...how’s that for a segue? There’s an exciting music documentary that might still be in cinemas and is coming to UK dvd-bluray 16/1/17: “Gimme Danger”, a film about inestimably influential, world renown rock/punk icons Iggy Pop and The Stooges, directed by equally renown, widely respected indie-filmmaker, Jim Jarmusch. The reviews worth reading so far make a point not to gush, but are very encouraging . And besides, who doesn't love Iggy? He's brilliant!!

Hey never knew you were that hairy DOY? Must have been a bugger getting that suit of armour on too with such a bushy tooshy, although saying that warm in the winter no doubt, not so in the summer, and the main reason why there was a rise in Bigfoot sightings in the states in the late 1970s. I'm sure I saw you once on an episode of Sightings. With that new info, I'd change your username too from Dirty Old Yank to Hairy Old Yank. Er.... yes...erm... that sounds a bit naughty and digestive.

A little story to amuse. As an impressionable kid wanted streaked hair like all my friend at school. I say friend (singular) as I had only one, and he was my brother, so it counts. I was a popular kid me, and hey, after all it was the early eighties and the new romantics were in fashion, sadly we weren't. Anyway, back to the story. So I pestered my mam to have my hair streaked, but she went to the local Co-op and bought some Summer Shine hair-dye on the cheap as it was a lean week money-wise and she couldn't afford to take me to the hairdresser. Saying that. I didn't want to go as my local saloon was called blow me, and I didn't want to get blowed, blond yes, not blowed, although I didn't have much to blow at the time, and no I'm referring to my hair there. Hey that rhymed.

So it was the big day. My new fashionable hairstyle ,but on coming home from school was told the bad news by my my mam that she couldn't afford a Saloon visit but said she'd do it for me, and as I wiped away the tears brought out a most wonderful surprise imaginable. The Co-op bought Summer Shine hair-dye, product of Albania. She said tea first, but ignored her shouting yahoo, as I ran upstairs to wash my hair. So five minutes later after a quick wash pee and fart came down with great expectations to the kitchen area where my mam was waiting. She had all the products ready & mixed, had a clear plastic bag in one hand fag in the other. On seeing this was a tad worried as the peroxide was flammable, and I wanted streaking not suffocating. So I sat down ready for my new look, when my brother entered the kitchen to watch munching on a jelly cola bottle sweet. My confidence was shot when he started to laugh as my mam smeared the thick viscous dye over my hair, then proceeded to put a bag over my head. I though this odd? as I wanted streaking not suffocating, but she said she wasn't able to streak my hair as she'd lost her tweezers earlier in the week plucking her legs, and how I should be bloody grateful she was doing at all. I went silent, as you can expect.

Set the scene. I was done, my mam had buttered me well and good, then placed the bag on head, then I went with tea in hand into the living room to watch Tizwas. Unknown to me my brother had decided he wanted to have streaked hair too, and seeing there was half a tub of gunk left asked my mam to do him too, but she only had a bread bag available as the other was still in use. On me. So there we were. Both of us eating crisps watching Tizwas. We waiting the allotted 30mins required on the packet. See my mam had bad eyesight and somehow doubled the timing seeing there was two of us to 60mins. This was a big mistake. See 30mins was for one user and the product wasn't meant to be used for two heads let alone be doubled. So as we both sat there sizzling away joking while eating our Quaver crisps drinking Cola until the big wash and reveal.

So after one hour of fizzing, it was time for the big moment, and I was first. My mam removed my plastic bag , then dunked proceeded to my head under the tap, rinsed my hair in lukewarm water, then dried my hair as if I were a dog. A poodle was apt. On seeing her handiwork, her facial expression said everything. So with trepidation ran up stairs, then looked into the bathroom mirror with horror. What I saw was otherworldly. My hair had turned white, snow-white in fact. I looked like one of the Children of the Dammed, but with a Swansea Accent. Worse still was my brother. Who on unravelling his bread-bag turban saw his hair go from dark brown to copper ginger. He looked like a Duracell battery with NHS specs. Even funnier was his thick dark eyebrows which from a far looked like two refugee caterpillars in an internment camp. Not good, as we both the next day went to school and was roundly humiliated by all the school and teachers. There's a moral in this tale. Can't think of one off hand.

Thanks for that hilarious story ILS but I hesitate to laugh, it could be true!

Ilovesteptoe wrote:Hey never knew you were that hairy DOY? Must have been...the main reason why there was a rise in Bigfoot sightings in the states in the late 1970s. I'm sure I saw you once on an episode of Sightings.

You’re on the wrong tack there, I’m not Bigfoot, never met the chap. Actually I bore a closer resemblance to Cousin It of the Addams Family, but now I look more like Uncle Fester. You’re right about the feet though, they are big. And webbed, with talons, kinda like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. If you saw someone that looked like me on telly it must’ve been a late late horror show.

Ilovesteptoe wrote:What I saw was otherworldly. My hair had turned white, snow-white in fact. I looked like one of the Children of the Dammed, but with a Swansea Accent.

See, to me that sounds quite dapper. Just lather in bar soap till the hair stands on end and you’re stylin! Ready for a night on the town. Can’t do that too often though, takes its toll. Our local hairdressers was called Curl Up and Dye which is what hair does if you abuse it like that, the result being me: Uncle Fester .